We found Nemo

Yes, my friends, it's true. I have literally taken the plunge and gone scuba diving for the first time in my life.

It wasn't really planned, it just sort of happened. I found myself in Cairns on Wednesday evening and was immediately bombarded with 10,000 different ways to go and see the Great Barrier Reef.

While the Reef is about 2,000 kilometres long, Cairns is probably the most popular base for visits and day-trips in all of Australia.

At first, I thought I might just pass on the Reef. I've already snorkelled in some pretty amazing places in Oz and have seen so many great things.

Wait a second: I can't come this far and be this close to one of the seven natural wonders of the world and not go and see it. Can I?

Then I started to think I'd just go and have a snorkel out at the Reef since I have neither my diver's certification or the $500 lying around to go and get it done at the moment.

Well, somehow I found a pretty sweet deal at the hostel I'm staying at. For $115 I got boat transfers to and from the Reef (two hours each way), lunch, two snorkels AND an introductory Scuba dive. Since it was going to cost $90 just to do the snorkelling, I thought why the hell not?

I didn't think too much about the dive until we got on the boat yesterday. That's when the instructor gave us a 45-minute safety talk, putting all sorts of frightening thoughts in the brain. "Remember, guys, the most important thing is to never come up to the surface too quickly. Or your lungs will explode."

Then he told us we'd be going as deep as 10 metres (more than 30 feet). Wowza, and I thought this was just for beginners.

I began to wonder if perhaps I shouldn't have given this a practice before coming out to open water where any number of things (sharks, jellyfish, coral) could slice, dice and have you for dinner.

But there was really no turning back at this point. That would have just been a wasted opportunity. The good thing is that the instructor gave us plenty of time to float on the surface and get used to breathing. It was very strange at first but then surprisingly easy once you calm down, relax and get used to all the bubbles surrounding you.

Then he took us one by one down a rope, making sure we were breathing properly and popping our ears as the pressure got too great.

And then away we went, swimming next to massive boulders of coral, spotting giant clams and basking in the warm, blue waters.

The highlight, of course, came when we discovered not one but two clown fish right on the ocean floor. That's right, we found Nemo! I certainly never expected that.

The dive only lasted about 15 minutes and then it was time to resurface (slowly!). I've never been so happy to breathe the good old-fashioned way in my life.

To be honest, the snorkelling is just as good on the Reef, as many of the sights are just a metre or two below the surface. I spent a good hour snorkelling at two different spots. I could have stayed even longer if they hadn't called us back to the boat.

I was exhausted by the end of the day. All that sun, salt air and water can really do a number on a person. Let's just say a three-hour nap was in order but at least I earned it.

I came, I saw, I dived.


P.S. I have to share this funny little story: I was listening to a local radio station on my first day in Cairns (remember this is pronounced "Cans" by the Aussies). The radio announcer started talking about a female bartender in Western Australia who was fined for crushing beer cans between her breasts. (I have no idea what possessed her to crush the cans in this way or why she was fined for doing it. We've all got to have a party trick, don't we?)

Anyway, the female announcer said she thought maybe they should give this sort of thing a try locally.

Says she: "We'll have them crushing cans with cans in Cairns while doing the can-can."

Priceless.